Development of Folklore in the Tohoku Region and the Great East Japan Earthquake

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24520919
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Cultural anthropology/Folklore
• Research Institution: Tohoku Gakuin University
• Principal Investigator: MASAOKA NOBUHIRO 東北学院大学, 文学部, 教授 (60352085)
• Research Collaborator: OKADA Hiroki 神戸大学, 国際文化学研究科, 教授 ; KODANI Ryusuke 東北歴史博物館, 学芸員 ; KATO Koji 東北学院大学, 文学部, 准教授 ; SORI Takeshi 和歌山県, 教育委員会文化遺産課, 副主査 ; NUMATA Ai 東北学院大学大学院 ; ENDO Kengo 東北学院大学大学院 ; ONUMA Tomo 東北学院大学大学院
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 東日本大震災 / 復興政策 / 生活再建 / 民俗行事の復活 / コミュニティの再構築 / 災害記憶の継承

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study researches and discusses various phenomena in areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake in terms of folklore as well as from the perspective of pre-disaster daily life and observations made in other areas, and presents a new understanding along with issues that need to be addressed.Findings from this study include: 1) Folklore events organized in the early post-disaster phase that attracted much attention were found to be newly created amid the confusion and out of necessity, based on folklore that had existed before the earthquake; 2) In terms of reconstructing daily life in the affected areas, the current state, four years after the earthquake, is merely a starting point, and we need to continue to carefully monitor progress; and 3) We need to develop local researchers who are interested in the overall situation―not only disaster-related issues, but also issues related to the community’s history and life―in order to pass on the experiences of the disaster.

Free Research Field

民俗学